Political correctness in military is not the problem

Letters to the editor for July 12, 2013: harassment in military; terrorism; global warming; landmark restaurants

Assault is crime, not political correctness

John Lehman fears that under a “zero tolerance” policy, naval officers must now fear a “career-ending anonymous hot-line call made by a disgruntled employee claiming sexual harassment, or ... other ... impieties of political correctness” (“Zero-tolerance policies lead to a risk-averse Navy that we can ill afford,” Guest Perspective, July 7).

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“Impieties of political correctness?” Lehman is talking about sexual assault. Victims often develop post-traumatic stress disorder not from combat, but from sexual assault by a known colleague.

Reporting a military sexual assault is the real career-ending move, not, as Lehman claims, “being accused of political incorrectness.” Most victims never report for fear of retaliation. The Department of Defense confirms that fewer than 3 percent of military rapes are prosecuted. We owe it to our servicemen and women to protect them from this hideous “friendly fire.”

Catherine Thiemann

San Diego

Tsarnev one of many
of the breed

With the arraignment in Boston of alleged marathon bomber Dzokar Tsarnaev, we are getting a look at perhaps the most dangerous

subspecies of human male on the planet: the half-educated, 19-year-old idealist.

Another of the breed, in 1914 in Sarajevo, fired a single shot that led to 20 million deaths in the first World War.

Today in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, all over the Middle East, scores of their brethren are blowing up both themselves and hundreds, or thousands, of innocent —-all in the name of their half-formed “ideals” taught them by cynical elders who never, of course, put themselves in harm’s way.

So we should look well at Dzokar Tsarnaev. Until we learn to deal with him, the innocents will continue to die, now and for the foreseeable future.

Ron Bonn

Tierrasanta

Oceans are absorbing
the planet’s heat

Charles Krauthammer says the climate has not been getting warmer for 16 years, but that is only partially true (“Obama spews hot air over climate change,” Op-ed, July 5). Atmospheric CO2 levels have continued their dramatic increase, so the heating of the planet is still occurring.

Those who follow climate science instead of politics know the heat is being absorbed by the oceans and cycled down into its depths. This is an ongoing process in which the oceans function to regulate the temperatures of Earth’s overall climate system. The result is that the oceans themselves are gradually warming.

If you want the complete picture, Google Kevin Trenberth, the world’s leading climate scientist, or James Hansen, the retired NASA scientist who has become a prominent voice combating climate change, and read what the experts have to say.

Bonnie Mosse Funk

La Mesa

Global warming
is not happening

In spite of an increase in atmospheric CO2, no global warming has occurred in the past 15 years.

CO2 in the atmosphere overwhelmingly comes from releases by oceans, biosphere and volcanoes. Man contributes about 1 percent of the CO2 effect.

The Antarctic ice cap (90 percent of the world’s ice) is slowly expanding. Ocean levels are rising about 7 to 8 inches per century, not 20 feet. Hurricanes and tornadoes are not more powerful nor frequent globally than in the past. Polar bear populations are on a 50-year high.